Ai shared the text of a letter sent to the leadership of ARoS explaining his decision.

“I am very shocked about yesterday's [Tuesday's, ed.] news that the Danish government has decided to seize refugees' private property. As a result of this regrettable decision, I must withdraw from your exhibition ‘A New Dynasty.Created In China' to express my protest of the Danish governments' decision. Please accept my regrets and thank you for your long-term support. I apologize for the inconvenience caused,” the artist wrote.

“Jens Faurschou backs the artist's decision and regrets that the Danish parliament chose to be in the forefront of symbolic and inhuman politics of todays biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe and the Middle East, instead of being in the forefront of a respectful European solution to solve the acute humanitarian crisis,” Ai wrote on Instagram.

On Twitter, the artist posted news about the passing of Denmark's controversial bill and called it “shameless”.

This is not the first Denmark-related controversy for Ai, who helped design the Bird's Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics and his work has been exhibited worldwide.

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Danish toy giant Lego refused a bulk order from Ai in October, saying it would not sell directly to users with "political" intentions. The decision set off a firestorm of criticism and ultimately led Lego to change its policy.

Ai is currently on the Greek island of Lesbos and is flooding his social media accounts with images of arriving asylum seekers.